Doing the maintenance yourself

I've got one of these. 18k lbs might be overkill for this truck

 

Absolutely NO FUCKING WAY IN HELL WOULD I WALK UNDER THAT SHIT!

 

And his last words: "and now to torque the oil pan plu....uuhhh"

Oh well, no good for tire rotations anyway..

 

Shoot I live in a condo in the city, no storage for anything. I do all my work on my truck in my parking lot. Heck I have even change my oil & filter, rear and front dif, Trans case oil, air filter, all spark plugs, greased the zerks, installed my skids, relocated breathers in a walmart parking lot. you just have to get out there and do it. Living in an apartment/condo has never really hinder me at all for working on my truck and gaining more knowlege so I know how things work on the Tacoma for future repairs.

 

I have plenty of space and decent tools, but sometimes it just doesn't make sense. I have a lifetime alignment at Firestone, so I usually take it to them, pay $20 and get my oil and alignment done. Honestly I can't change my own oil for less than that.

Brakes are something I will always do- Firestone quoted me $275 to do the front discs on my Scion- I did them myself in 30 min. for $40.

 

I agree here. Since getting my Tacoma, I have lived in a house and an appartment. It was certainly nice having a garage at the house, but I have no intentions of stopping working on my truck now that it resides in a parking lot. Just have to watch out for the cars parked next to me. Although I don't think I would go to a Walmart to work on it

 

HAHA I decided to go to Walmart since it is right over the fence from my condo after getting into it with the Prop manager when I was Flushing the Tranny fluid out of my wifes car and changing the oil. He said that in the bylaws you can't work on a vehicle on site. It wasn't until later that night I read through all the by laws and it says in capitail letters. "No MAJOR car repairs" I have this high lighted and ready for the next time I work on my truck to pull out and show him. A MAJOR car repair is a overhaul, bodywork, engine swap etc. Not me changing the oil so I can't wait to shove that in his face......anyway just venting I guess LMAO
I love working on my truck. It is a peaceful stress release (unless something goes wrong)

 

Have you looked around for any local "DIY" garages? There are several in California where you rent a stall to work on your own vehicle. It's not as cheap of course as letting a shop do it, but some people really enjoy the pride in working on their own vehicle.

PLEASE. I beg you not to get those types of lifts. They are inherently dangerous, unless they have been redesigned to have the primary section bolted to the floor! Those lifts are VERY prone to tip over when a vehicle is lifted. I have seen several with a car on it's side when they tipped over sideways.

 

Did some work in the Home Depot parking lot after hours. The police weren't pleased about it, but they didn't bother me more than once or twice. I do what I can in the parking lot, what I can't at my in-laws about 200mi away, and what I don't have the ability to do I bring it into the shop for. Been taking advantage of the free dealer oil changes lately, double checking their work of course

Do what you can, where you can. It doesn't make you any less of a man to know your own limits and let the professionals do their job.

 

Best thing about Walmart is they are open 24hrs here. Have never said anything to me. Same reason you see so many RVs "camping" in the lot on trips.

 

Live in a 17 unit townhouse community and am the only one who does any kind of truck maintenance, usually just oil changes, plugs, etc. No static from neighbors. Main reason, especially on oil changes, is I KNOW it's done right - fully warmed up, let it drain as long as it takes.

 

That's why I do mine also, too many horror stories of dealerships screwing up a simple oil change.

 

^^^ and I like that good stuff oil....no BS oil. I want what I want not what you want to put in there. Takes like 10 mins to do it anyway.

 

Sadly I have to agree on this.